Bottle-opener



(No Model.)

J. A. TRAUT. BOTTLE OPENER.

No. 431,086. Patented July 1, 1890.

I W da/mda J4 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JUSTUS A. TRAUT, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT.

BOTTLE-OPEN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 431,086, dated July 1, 1890.

' Application filed December 12, 1889. Serial No. 333,455. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JUsTUs A. TRAUT, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Britain, in the county of Hartford and State of Conn eeticnt, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Openers, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to the class of bottleopeners formed of a pair'of levers pivoted together and provided with jaws adapted to grasp the stopper, and the object is to provide a cheap implement of this class with peculiarly-shaped grasping-jaws that can be made to grasp and firmly hold a cork without cutting or breaking it into pieces when the cork is being removed from the bottle.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan view of the implement. Fig. 2 is an edge view of one of the levers, and Fig. 3 a sectional view of one of the levers on plane denoted by the broken line a 00 of Fig. 2.

In the views the letters a a indicate a pair of similar levers, which are cast or forged into shape from any suitable metal. These lovers are seen red together by a pivot Z) near one end, and on one side of the pivot are shaped into blades 0 0, so as to form shears, that may be used to sever the wire, cord, or metal fastening which is used to hold corks in place in the mouth of a bottle. The levers on the opposite side of the pivot, between the handles (1 (.l and the pivot, are formed on curves of different radii, to provide graspingjaws cf for corks of various sizes. At intervals along these curved jaws grooves g are made transversely of the levers, and agroove h is made loi'igitudinally of the levers, which cuts each of the transverse grooves so that a row of teeth is formed along both edges of the curved portions of the levers. It is preferred that these grooves should be circular and at sufficient distance apart to make wide blunt teeth, each tooth being a truncated pyramid rather than coming to a point, so that the teeth will compress the fiber of the cork and settle into its surface without cutting or tearing its fiber, as would be the case if the teeth were sharp. lVith teeth formed in this manner the fiber of the cork is not torn,so that the strength of the cork is not impaired, and it will not tear to pieces when it is being removed from a bottle. By forming two rows of teeth, one near each edge of the jaws, a wide friction or grasping surface is provided, leaving a space between them into which the material of the cork may expand when compressed, thereby not only preventing the teeth from sinking deeply into the edge of the cork, but also, by reason of the ridge of compressed cork within the groove, preventing the tool from slipping up or down and working off from the cork.

I claim as my invention- A bottle-opener consisting of a pair of pivoted levers provided with jaws formed upon one or more curves near the pivot, the said jaws being provided with a row of blunt teeth along their upper and lower edges, and a longitudinal groove between said rows, substantially as specified.

JUSTUS A. TRAUT.

Witnesses:

GEORGE U. TRAUT, J AMES SHEPARD. 

